After my hard arrival in the modern society, a short and lonely dinner in a Burger King (Which didn't bring me more joy), I decided to leave Vancouver and to take directly a ferry for the Vancouver island. For that purpose, I had to go to Horshoe Bay. I arrived there at 1.00am and waited for the first ferry which was at 5.00am

Vancouver

I arrived in Vancouver at 4:30pm and I had nothing planned. I thought I could improvised and find some bagpacker style arrangement but I understood soon enough that I had been pretty stupid to not anticipate my arrival in Canada when I was in Argentina. Like every first week of August, all the cheap accomadations were book, especially in Vancouver which is one of the most expansive modern city in the world. One bed in a dormitory was costing 60€ minimum and I didn't want to accept this kind of [...]

I helped my family host to create their Airbnb account and to put some photos of their home. I also started to write things for my blog, I organized the backups of my photos and I spent some time with the family who hosted me. We had nice conversations and I think they enjoyed very much my company.
In the early morning of monday, I was leaving Santiago de Cuba for La Havana, a big bus trip of 18 hours. On the last four hours, I talked with some europeans girls who were traveling in Cuba for thr [...]

On the next day, I stayed with the danish couple and we went to Guardalavaca, famous for its beaches. I enjoyed an amazing sunset there after some nice time on the beach.
We took a full and 100% resting time on our second day in Guardalavaca and we enjoyed the beach, the nice weather and the beautiful and warm sea.
In the evening, I shared nice talks with Askar around a glass of cuban rum and cigars.

We passed close to the Naval Base of Guatanamo and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes along the coast while Askar was driving. We arrived at night in Baracoa and I went out with Askar for a beer.
On the second day, we went to different places around Baracoa. We took a nice bath in a river among local cubans. After lunch we went to the national park of El Yunke. There, we started a very nice hike in a beautiful nature, very unique and diversified: one I never had seen before. The view at the top wa [...]

s impressive. At the end of the day, we tried a nice restaurant in Baracoa.

In the morning of my third day in Santiago de Cuba, I joined the danish couple to drive until Baracoa. We stopped in La Gran Piedra, a famous place in the mountain close to Santiago de Cuba from where you get an impressive 360° on the surrounding region. However, the view wasn't completly cleared because of the humidity and some clouds.

I arrived around 11.00pm at Santiago de Cuba, tired from the very long trip I just had. As soon as I went out of the bus terminal, I negociated a price for a casa particular with a kind guy.
We walked until his casa and I crossed for the first time one of the very animated street of the carnaval: people were dancing in the street, there were some local shops for food and beers, loud music and other nice attractions.
On my first day, I walked a lot in the streets of Santiago de Cuba, I tried dif [...]

ferent types of food and took a lot of photographies. By chance, I met a danish guy called Askar in the information center. He was about to go to Baracoa with his girlfriend two days later and I asked him if it could bring me with him. He accepted we agreed to met at his casa particular if I still was up to go on that day with them.
In the evening, I went to an impressive parade and took a lot of pictures.
On the second day, I walked in Santiago de Cuba in the morning, I tried an ice in a famous place, probably the most cheapest one I had in my life, I also took some time to work on photos and other things for the blog. I went out in at night to see the carnaval animations but just briefly.

At our arrival in the Viazul terminal, the news wasn't very well for me. I couldn't buy myself a ticket for Santiago de Cuba because the bus was already full (Everyone wanted to go there, it was the carnaval). After some difficulties to find a casa particular, we finally found one and we took some short rest.
On the 22th of July, at 5.00am, my dear Anny left me to return to Colombia. My time with her was amazing and I miss her. I encountered some luck in my sadness: A guy cancelled his ticket f [...]

or Santiago de Cuba and I managed to leave La Havana for Santiago de Cuba at 6.00am with a Viazul bus. However, the trip was terribly long and I felt myself very lonely.

Anny wanted to see Varadero so we decided to spend our last afternoon there before going back to La Habana. We left Playa Giron with taxi that we shared with a french family in a old Dodge from the 50s. Just after a good lunch we went for a walk to buy some souvenirs. After some shopping we ended up on the beautiful main beach of Varadero and had a very nice time there. We went back at 6.00pm to la Habana with a Viazul bus.

We left Trinidad with a public bus at 7.00am for Giron. Giron is quite famous for its beaches, its diving spots and the animals you can see in the surrounding nature. Playa Giron is also famous because it correspond to the Bay of Pigs, the place where the americans tried to invade Cuba in 1961 and failed (badly).
We encountered some issue with the bus company at our arrival but Anny managed things very efficently. We went to a casa particular recommended by Cedric where we had a warming welcome [...]

from a nice guy and his wife. He recommended us some things to do in the area and after some thoughts with Anny, we had good ideas about what we were about to do in Giron.
The day of our arrival we went to the museum of Giron where you find many details about the american attack in 1961...from the cuban perspective. After this interesting visit we had a short walk along the beach of Playa Giron. In the afternoon, we did a very nice tour in a forest close to Giron where we saw many different kinds of animals: birds, crocodiles, turtles, lezards, crabs. I have been ate by hundreds of mosquitos during this tour but we had a nice refreshing time in a natural swimming pool in the middle of the forest.
The second day in Giron, Anny and I took a bus in the early morning to go to Punta Perdiz, a famous spot for diving. I had a wonderful dive there and Anny had also the occasion to dive for the first time of her life. We did some snorkling and we enjoyed the place wich was a kind of paradise, the postal cards landscapes style. In the late afternoon, I motivated Anny to go by bicycle until Caleta Buena. She sadly hurt herself on the road because she wasn't very use to drive bicycle. Fortunately, it wasn't to bad but I worried myself a lot for her. Our little ride ended up well in a little restaurant just after the sunset.

We left Viñales in the morning with a local taxi. The car, once again, was an old car from the 50s. We were not sitting very comfortably and there was a strong smell of fuel. Fortunately, we had a change of car in the middle of our trip for an other one which was a little bit better.
After our arrival, we rested ourself a little bit and we went out at night. We discovered a very nice atmosphere in the street of Trinidad with plenty of bars, workshops of art, group of musicians and places of co [...]

ncerts.
Anny and I rented a scooter during two days which allowed us to go to different beaches close to Trinidad. We also went to the hills behind Trinidad where we enjoyed a beautiful view on the surroundings areas. We spent an afternoon in the national parc "El Cubano" where we walked until the Javira waterfall and had a nice bath in a beautiful river.
Trinidad was a very nice city and I enjoyed very much to visit the surrounding areas with Anny's company. It was very nice to find the pleasure of beaches after all those months of travel. We finished our time there like the way we started it: an nice diner and a walk in the streets of Trinidad.

In the early morning Cédric and Maghna joined us at our address in La Habana to take a taxi together for Viñales. The taxi was a very old car of the 50s, the trip was nice and we arrived around 12.00am in Viñales. Cédric and Maghna stayed in the same casa particular as us. In the afternoon, we went all together for a nice walk through the tabac fields and did a small visit of a cigars cooperative. We had an delicious diner at our casa particular and we went out in the late evening to dance a [...]

little bit salsa.
On the second day, we went to nice place close to Viñales where you could do zip-line rides. We also enjoyed a very nice time to a mirador which was close to this place. All that time with Anny, Cédric and Maghna was very nice. After lunch, Cédric and Maghna was leaving us to go back to La Habana. I spent a quiet afternoon with Anny and we went out for diner in the evening.
On the third day, I wanted to walk in the early morning to avoid for once the high temperatures in the middle of the day. After an amazing breakfast at our casa particular, Anny and I went for a beautiful walk in the surrounding areas of Viñales. I enjoyed very much the atmosphere and the lights we found on this early morning on that day. We had also a very awesome hike together. We went out in the late afternoon and had a finished our day with a nice diner at our casa particular.

I arrived in Cuba in the late afternoon at the airport and I already felt to arrive on a other planet. I was just coming out from the Argentinian winter, so when I went out of my plane in la Habana, I had the impression to enter in an oven. I met some french tourists and we managed to share the cost of a taxi to go to the center. During the drive, the surrounding areas looked to me already completly unrealistic especially due to the old cars, the architecture and the colors. I arrived to a popul [...]

ar neighborhood and met Elisabeth, the host of my first casa particular in La Habana.
Everything in La Habana looked different from everything I had saw during my trip. The first things I had to do was taking contact with Cedric, my ex-colleague from Accenture, who was arriving with his girlfriend three days later and we were planning to meet each other on this occasion. I had to give him my address so that we could join each other after his arrival. I also had to contact Anny who was arriving soon. Regarding the fact I hadn't any phone at this time, I had to go in a hotel and get a Wifi card (pretty expensive) to connect my computer to the outside world.
The first part of my stay in La Habana was crazy and full of very new experiences. I took many photos in the streets of La Habana and I walked during hours in the streets of la Habana vieja (Old La Havane). I tried the local food, I went to dance with a cuban guy and a french girl, I met a french couple with whom I had nice time, I shared a lot of things with my first hosts and everyday, I had 100 new questions in mind about the cuban society.
The second part of my stay in La Habana probably started when I met Cédric and Maghna who were just arriving from the Dominican Republic. It was very nice to see some familiar faces after all that time of travel. We did nice walks and visits in the streets of La Habana and we shared impressions about the cuban society and what we had already observed. After one day and a half, they were already leaving La Habana for Trinidad but we planned to see each other again in La Habana three days later and to go all together to Viñales.
Anny finally arrived the 9th of July at 3.00am in our huge appartment in la Habana vieja... The third and last part of my amazing time in la Habana started with her and we spent three beautiful days in the capital of Cuba.

On the following days I went to the museum of modern art (MALBA), the museum of fines arts, the Recoleta cemetery, the Rosedal park and the ecological reserve. I also went one day in Uruguay where I visited the city of Colonia del Sacramento. I had a nice afternoon with three french travelers there who I met just after my arrival in the country. I went also in the city of El Tigre and visited a part of the Delta of the Rio Paranà. I went for a short but colorful visit in the neighborbood of La [...]

Boca (Caminito).
After 5 days at Caravan BA, I had to find an other youth hostel less expensive so I looked for one in San Telmo and went to the Waikiki hostel. I had cool flatmates: an argentinian and a colombian. I continued to spend time out with my turkish friend, Alican and an israelian friend of him, Siggy.
In the different youth hostel I stayed, I cooked with my friends some tasty meats for diner. We also enjoyed some restaurants. I had a mexican diner with travelers from everywhere, I had a delicious asado with argentinians and bresilians. In general, I ate very good.

Even if some people were cool in my first youth hostel, I wanted to move in a other one. After some research, I decided to move to Caravan BA in Palermo: the very fancy neighborhood of Buenos Aires. The youth hostel had the advantage to be very clean with a very tasty breakfast. I met many strangers there and also made myself some friends like Kim from Australia, Diaro from Argentina, Ivan from Switzerland, Alican from Turkey. I did a lot of nice walks and visits with my travelers companions fro [...]

m this hostel and their friends relatives.
On my first week-end, Sévrine, a french girl I met in my first youth hostel invited me to a very nice party of bresilians and argentinians. I went out to dance in a very cool place called El Toque Cinamon in San Telmo, where you had a band playing salsa music in live. It was also a good occasion for me to pratice a little bit before my time in Cuba.

I arrived in Buenos Aires after 24 hours of buses through Argentina. I almost crossed the whole width of the country in one day. I arrived early in the day in my youth hostel and decided to do my visa for Cuba in the morning. This was quite a success because in less than 45 minutes, I had my visa for Cuba! That was also meaning that I would have 13 days to do whatever I want in Buenos Aires before my flight for Cuba. On this day, I had my first big walk in the city. Buenos Aires is a really huge [...]

I came back to Salta after a five day trip in the region with Laura, Manon and Romain. I realised I needed some time to rest, just to do nothing during few days before I move for the next steps.
I stayed a full week in Salta during which I cooked myself some delicious dishes, I worked on my photos, I watched some movies and I updated my blog in many ways. I also met Elisa, a french girl from my youth hostel very kind. we did some walks in the city when we had some time.
On the 20th of June, I l [...]

I arrived in Salta very early and very tired by all those travels. I started to walk to the center of the city to search for a youth hostel. I finally found one and took some rest and after lunch, I started to look for some companions to rent a car for 3 or 4 days to visit the region of Salta.
At the end of the day, we had a team: A traveling girl: Laura, and a french couple: Manon and Romain. We all left Salta on Tuesday with our rented car for the beautiful roads of the Salta region.

We arrived there one hour later and crossed the border together to enter in he city of Quiaca, in Argentina.
I left Charlotte and Louis at the bus station of Quiaca who were going to Humahuaca for a woofing experience and took a night bus for Salta.

We left Mauriane at the bus station of Uyuni and arrived in the early evening in Tupiza.
After some warming good buys with our driver Viktor, we took the direction of the bus station of Tupiza. Charlotte and Louis joined me in a mini bus to go to Villazon.

I arrived at night in Tupiza with Maeva, Roxanne and Valentine. We stayed in a really comfortable hostal. The following day, the girls left Tupiza for Salta but I choose to stay and to rest myself for a day and to plan the tour in the South of Lipez and in the Salar de Uyuni with Louis and Charlotte.
After some discussions with the agency, we understood that we would not go for the trip in the south of Lipez and in the Salar de Uyuni on friday. I used this day for an amazing and beautiful walk [...]

through the canyon of the inca, close to Tupiza. I had a wonderful weather and enjoyable moments to do a lot of photography!
In the late afternoon, Charlotte, Louis and I met Mauriane, a french girl who was also searching for a group to travel through the Salar de Uyuni and the south of Lipez.
The team was ready and an amazing journey was about to start!

In Potosi, I joined Louis and Charlotte who arrived sooner in the day in their youth hostel to visit the city with them on the following day.
On thuesday morning, I went with Louis to visit the mines of Potosi. A very original experience which allowed us to see in which conditions the miners are working. Thanks to our guide, we also learned much more about this world, its rules, the beliefs of the miners, the different technics, some secrets and how people are expecting the futur. At lunch, I me [...]

t again Valentine, Roxane and Maeva who were just arriving from Sucre. After a lunch all together, I visited with Louis and Charlotte La Casa de la Moneda from Potosi, which was a very exciting and interesting complement to our morning visit. In the late afternoon, we went for some shopping in the center of Potosi.

I arrived in Sucre at 5.30am and took a rest on a couch in my youth hostel.
On this first day I joined Louis and Charlotte in the late morning, the french couple I had met at the Bolivian border. Together we went for a very interesting visit in La Casa de la Libertad. We enjoyed an AMAZING and cheap lunch in the restaurant "La Taverne". An other french couple with whom we had diner in La Paz, Cassandre and Ronan, joined us in the afternoon and we visited a part of Sucre all together.
The seco [...]

nd day, I was leaving Sucre just for the day to visit the Tarabuco local market. It was actually a little disapointing from what I was expecting. I had actually better memories of the Pisac local market in Peru. However, I was well acompagnied with three french couples during this day and we had nice chats during our walks. I had also nice discussions with a girl from Italy in the bus.
On the Third day, I met again three french girls I had met in La Paz the day of my departure: Maeva, Valentine and Roxane. Valentine and Roxane were too tired because of the trip between La Paz and Sucre, however, Maeva was in a good form and joined me, Cassandre and Ronan for a morning visit of one part of the city that we hadn't seen. After a perfect lunch in "La Taverne" (again!) I went for some shopping with Maeva in the afternoon during which I bought some new shoes and a nice pullover.
I left the city for Potosi at 8.00pm with a public bus
I enjoyed very much my time in Sucre and the walks in the street of the white city. The architecture of the center was much more beautiful that the one I saw in La Paz and the atmsophere I found in this city was very enjoyable. If I come back to Bolivia, I would return to Sucre without hesitations.

Again, I haven't been so lucky on my return to Cochabamba. I thought I could take a night bus from Cochabamba to Sucre but I arrived to late. I went out the bus station a look for a collectivo to go to Sucre by night. I found some lost bolivians families who were also looking for a collectivo. I joined them and after a little diner in the street of Cochabamba, I left the city for Sucre.

Parque Nacional Torotoro- 25 mai 2017

The national parc from Torotoro was a really beautiful place and really interesting due to its very rare and original geology.
On the first day, we visited the "city of Itas", a remarkable place were huge caves and stones has been formed by the water millions of years ago. The landscapes of the region was very impressives and very changing for me, since my recent experiences in La Paz.
In the afternoon, we went in the Uma Jalanta cave, one of the biggest natural cave in Bolivia. The place was [...]

full of stalagmite and stalagmite, small rivers and curious forms of rocks.
On the second day, our group walked to an impressive canyon in the south of the Torotoro village. On our way, we saw dozens of dinosaures footprints! I was really happy to see it for the first time in my life and was also telling myself that if I would had the chance to see those when I was a kid, I would have been crazy.
After we arrived at the canyon, we went 800 steps down to approach the river and see a really famous waterfall called "El Vergel". We took a bath and took a picnic in the bottom of the canyon. An amazing relaxing time.
I spent all those moments with a group composed of a french couple, an english couple and a german guy. They were all very kind and participated to make my time in Torotoro a very enjoyable time.

I traveled to Torotoro with a colectivo (those chinese minibus which are everywhere in Bolivia). The road was a typical bolivian road: made of stones, gravels and earth...after four hours, the travel was painful for the ass but the landscapes were already beautiful.
I met two english in my colectivo. We arrived at night in Torotoro, by a wonderful starry sky and went to the same youth hostel.

I left La Paz at 22:30 for Cochabamba by a rainy weather. I slept quite well despite the state of the road until I woke up around 6.00am. My bus stayed blocked with dozens of other buses and trucksduring approximatively five hours because of the snow on the road. The temperature was also very cold inside the bus...Fortunately, I begin to get use to those kinds of inconvinients in south america and I was wearing warm clothes.
The Bolivians have a way to manage issues in their own way...watching a [...]

ll of this as a european who isn't on a rush is quite funny.

La Paz- 21 mai 2017

Anna and I went back to La Paz in the middle of the afternoon. The weather on our arrival was quite shit, but we didn't cared so much because we had a beautiful weather during almost the whole three days trek. We celebrated the end of our El Choro trek experience in a Japanese restaurant.
On the day after, Anna was leaving La Paz for three days for Huayna Potosi ascension. After I wished her good luck we left each other and I took two resting days in La Paz to call some friends and to update m [...]

y blog.

Coroico

On the third day, the weather wasn't so good anymore but we enjoyed the last part of the trek. The misty landscapes mixed to the strong umidity of the ambiant air offered us a fun experience. We went also quite fast on this day and arrived sooner as expected at the end of the El Chorro trek. After a short walk between Chairo and Pacallo, we found a collectivo which brought us to Coroico.

Bella Vista Camp- 20 mai 2017

It was a long and beautiful day of hike with various landscapes and beautiful experiences of trekking. The environement changed completly from what we could see at the beginning of the El Choro trek. The air was much more humide and the forest was becoming deeper. We had a good breakfast, lunch and diner thanks to the things we had planned. In the Bella Vista camp, we had long and nice conversation with Peter and the two belgians. The weather has been perfect the whole, We couldn't asked for mor [...]

e.

Challapampa Camp- 19 mai 2017

30 minutes after our start, we met a really kind slovak: Peter. He did the hike with us and we walked the whole day until the camp of Challampampa. On our way, we met a lot of Llamas, sheeps and horses. One hour before arriving to the camp, the landscape were beginning to change a lot, with presence of a real vegetation.
In the evening, a belgian couple joined us. We had a tasty diner thanks to the organization we had planned

El Choro Trek

Anna and I waked up early to go the bus terminal where buses were leaving the city for "El Cumbre". After a painful wait of one hour in a collectivo, we finally arrived in the beginning of the El Choro trek. The first day was very sunny and we enjoyed the various landscapes of the height Andes. Anna was carrying the food and I had all the equipment for camping: tent, matrass and sleeping bags.

Just after my return from the Huyana Potosi, I found back Anna, the german girl I met when I went for the death road tour. Together, we planned our El Choro trek. We rented the necessaries equipments, we went to shop different kind of food and we finished our day with a nice diner in a vietnamese restaurant.

Huayna Potosí

D-DAY
At 0.30 am, the whole dormetery waked up and prepared itself for war. At 1.00am, Troops and I were ready with our bags and our climbing equipment to start the ascension with our guide: Patricio, a nice experimented guide who was only speaking spanish.
After a short walk without crampons, we attached them to ours foots and started our hike. We were of course attached with a rope to one each other. our guide was on head, Troops was second and I was the last.
The beginning was difficult but I [...]

was in a good form and my body held well the frozen temperature and the lack of oxygen. After one hour of walk, we were the first one of all the groups who were climbing to the top. We kept this position during almost three hours.
After passing 5850 meters of altitude, I started to be very weak and I lost almost all of my capabilities. It was almost like I was disconnected from my own body, I had the feeling to be druged. The only thing I could focus on was my breath and to continue to walk. Everytime we were stopping I was frozed to death. My friend Troops managed to kept his spirit clear and encouraged me a lot on the last 150 meters.
The most crazy step of the ascension was the 20 last minutes of hike until the summit...an experience I will remember for ever. The landscapes were similar to the one you could see from planes, the crossing of the crest was one of the most impressive thing I did of my whole worldtrip. I reached the altitude of 6088 meters for the very first time of my life around 6.00am the 18th of May 2017 with an absolutly stunning view on the surrounding areas of the Huayna Potosi.

SECOND DAY
On the second day, we had the morning to do whatever we wanted and to be use to heights. I went with the two french at the bottom of the glacier where we had a morning and wonderful view on the summit of the Huyana Potosi. After a early lunch, we prepared our bag and went for a hike of two hours and a half until the high camp at 5150 meters of altitude. We arrived there quite early and had almost the whole afternoon to relax. Again, between cards play and tea breaks, we enjoyed to go [...]

outside to observe the landscapes and to see what was waiting for us for the next day.
At 6.00pm, after an early diner, we went all to bed with our bag ready. I had bad luck...at 5150m of altitude, the day before the Huayana Potosi ascension, I had a bad diarrhea. Thanksfully, an immiodium saved me from many inconvinients. However, I had real difficulties to fall asleep.

FIRST DAY
I left my youth hostel quite early with my big bagpack and went to the agency where our little bus was waiting for us. Troops, my english friend, was already waiting for me in there. The bus drive us until the Base camp at 4700 meters of altitude. After our arrival, we changed our self with the climbing equipment to go on the glacier for a first training and aclimatation day.
The training day was made to learn how to walk with crampons on the glacier and how to climb with the ice axe. [...]

The lanscapes were already crazy and beautiful on this first cloudy day.
In the late afternoon, me and Troops met the other people of our group, they were really nice: a canadian couple, a band of danish guys and a french couple.
Betweens tea breaks, we played cards and talked about our travel experiences. It was a nice time.

On sunday morning I met Anna, a german girl, who was also waiting for a bus which picked us up around 7.30am to bring us at 4700m where the downhill of the death road with bicycle was beginning. We had a really good weather, the landscapes were wonderful, the equipments provided were alright, the bicycle experience was really cool and the downhill finished with a good lunch and a nice time in a swimming pool. We went down 3600m during 50km! We started in the height altitudes of the Andes and fin [...]

ished in the semi-tropical environement of Amazon. A fun experience :)

While we were waiting for Israeliens (that always have problems to cross borders), I had the pleasure to discuss with Charlotte and Louis, two french who were going to Copacabana. The trip to La Paz was quite fun, we crossed the lake late at night, I had a first discussion with a bolivian women and a brazilian couple while we were waiting for our bus which was crossing the lake separatly.
On my arrival, I went to see Troops, my english friend at his hostel and we started to plan the following [...]

days of treks and actvities around La Paz.
On Friday, I did some shops for my camera (I lost some accesories), I booked tours in a travel agency, I walked in the city, I tried different type of food and I took the cable car in the late afternoon. This one gave me a really impressiv view on the city of La Paz. Afer this panoramic experience, I met a canadian girl in my room, she was my new room-mate: Fred. She actually helped me a lot to find a conclusion on an article that I am atually writing about the colonisation and the quest of national identity.
We went to the youth hostel of Troops where we could dance, have a drink and play in a poolroom... I drinked too much that night. Altitude and lack of water gave me a terrible headache. Saturday became a recovery day.

I left Puño in the early morning to meet an indigenes family in the island of Amantani. I was planning to stay two nights there. Laurent, my contact in "Todo Peru" helped me to inform the family of my arrival.
I met Ivan, the father, in the dock of Amantani who accompanied me until his home. There, I met Flavia, his wife, his little daughter Kesi and in the late afternoon his son John Richard. The whole family was very kind and my time in Amantani was beginning really well. I had lunch with th [...]

e family and I rested my self. I went for a walk in the middle of the afternoon. My little walk finished with an amazing sunset! A really impressive one which reminded me my time in Montañita, in Ecuador. On the evenning, I had diner with the family and talked 2 hours with the mother about different things, an interesting and nice discussion.
On wednesday, I hiked to the summit of Pachamama (4120m) where I had a beautiful panorama on the Titicaca lake. On my way to the summit Pachatata (4085m) I met Flavia and her sister who were going also to the summit to gather pea plants. I did many photos on the way and I helped them to bring some plants on our return to the village.
My time in Amantani has beeen an amazing occasion (finally!) to do some really nice street photography. The people in Amantani were less agresive toward tourists than other places in Peru, which gave me opportunity to do some nice photos of the people in their daily activities.

The road between Chivay and Puño was beautiful. Impressive and desertic landscapes with volcanos and mountains. It was also crazy to think that we never have been under 3900 meters of altitude on this road and the heightest point was 4900 meters of altitude. I arrived in Puño at 8.00pm, tired.

Colca Canyon- 7 mai 2017

I began my hike in the Canyon of Colca by a misty morning after I bought some food and a bottle of water. The clouds where stucked in the bottom of the canyon, it was offering an original landscape. After one hour of hike, a little black dog appeared behind me. He became my morning companion, it was quite fun. He followed me everywhere and he was always waiting for me when I was doing some fotos. I have to admit, it was fun to have him with me during the morning. I even gave him a name: Colca (n [...]

ot very original xD).
I lost my companion Colca after 5 hours of walk in the small village of Paclla. I continued my hike which became a little bit more difficult. At 12.00am, I had a amazing resting moment in the mirador Apacheta. I arrived in the Oasis Sangalle at 4.30pm. I met there a group of 8 girls who where doing the trek with a guide. We had diner together, it was really nice.
The next day, in the early morning, I started to hike to Cabanaconde at 5.00am. I hiked 4km and 1022 meters of altitude in 2 hours and 10 minutes. On this morning, the weather was absolutely perfect and the lights were offering a wonderful landscape. I left Cabanaconde at 9.00am with a local bus to go back to Chivay.

I woke up at 3.30am to take a bus at 4.00am for Cabanaconde. I left the main part of my belongings in my hostal in Chivay. I arrived at Cabanaconde at 6.30am. I wasn't off the bus that a women was already asking me to pay an entrance fee for the Canyon of Colca: 70NS(20€) for strangers, 40NS for south americans, 20NS for locals...a real joke this pass. Many people advised me to faint not speaking spanish, which I did. I said some bullshit in english about a friend I was waiting. She gave up qu [...]

ite easily and this little trick avoid me to pay 20€ to enter in the canyon.

I arrived in Arequipa after a terrible night in the bus. Usually, Cruz del Sur is a reliable company, but the heatting system wasn't working in my bus between Cuzco and Arequipa. I was frozed during the entire trip. Just after my arrival, I shared a taxi with two dutch I had met in the bus station of Cuzco.
I took the day to visit Arequipa and to walk in the city. I have been to the local market for lunch, I tried an Alfajor (pastry from Arequipa), I rested my legs on "la plaza de Armas" from A [...]

requipa and I have been to the Santuarios Andinos museum: it's an interesting museum which only concerned the discovery of a Inca mummy close to the volcano Ampato. The mummy was a young girl sacrificed by the Incas between 1450 and 1480 AD. Two other childrends have also been found around her with many objects. It's a nice evidence of Inca traditions and religious rituals.
The next day, I went with Nickolaï, a german guy I met in my youth hostel, to visit the cathedral of Arequipa and most of all, the monastery Santa Catalina, where sisters of the catholic order lived between 1579 and 1970. The Monastery itself was amazing for its architecture, its paintings, its colour and the whole organization of the sisters community at that time. It's a kind of a city inside the city and it was fun to discover all the places of this huge monastery.
After a ceviche for lunch, I decided to leave for the canyon of Colca. I never stay for long in cities apparently.

I arrived a little bit to early in Cuzco for my bus to Arequipa. My mobility was reduced because I had my big bag with me. I choose to visit the regional historic museum and I rested myself on a coffe balcony with a view on "la plaza de armas". A nice resting time during which I had the time to complete a new article.
In the early evening, I took a cab for the terminal Cruz del Sur.

After a last quiet morning in Ollantaytambo, I left the city for Urumbamba with a "collectivo". At Urumbamba, I was lucky and found directly a bus for Chinchero.
I surprised by the ruins of Chinchero! It wasn't a useless stop, the Incas ruins of Chinchero are really nice and the church build on old Incas foundations is really interesting in term of architecture. It also complete the different heritages of the spanish invasion and how the church transformed some places which was before Inca co [...]

I arrived at Ollantaytambo on monday night and began to look for a cheap youth hostel. I finnaly found one and I started to speak whith my host about the Incas ruins in the surounding areas. We also talked about the Matchu Picchu and guess what...I will not go there. It's important choice full of wiseness and I will write an article about it because it will probably be the most recurente question is the next weeks.
On tuesday morning I went to the Ollantaytambo temple, a really beautiful and [...]

impresive ruins from the Inca's age. I went also to some other ruins close to my youth hostel where you have wonderful view on the city of Ollantaytambo and on the famous ruins I had visited in the morning. I took some rest after lunch and in the late afternoon I started a hike to see the ruins of Pumamarka. I arrived there one hour later, just before dusk and the place were really beautiful and peaceful. It was a very nice hike to end the day.
On Wednesday, I met a german girl in my youth hostel. She was going to the Machu Picchu, we had some discussions about the surounding areas. I thought to go just for the morning to the small village of Panchar just to see a ruin which is called Ñaupa Iglesia and the rupestres paintings of Llamapintay. I saw them after a little hike but I decided to go further in the valley of Soqma to see a famous waterfall and Incas ruins of Perolniyoc. It was a great idea, the landscapes were amazing and the place very beautiful. Even better, no tourists, a place absolutely peaceful. I took a hike to go back to Ollantaytambo from the heights. The view was awesome but the 4 last hours made me very tired, I could not feel my legs anymore at the end of this 9 hours hike!
My time is Ollantaytambo was lonely but I needed it. The weather was beautiful, I dedicated my whole time to photography and hiking and I've been seeing a nice part of the Inca heritage in Peru. The city itself is a litte bit tourist and less authentic, maybe, than Pisac. However, you've plenty of places to take some heights and have nice views on the sacred valley and the andes all around.

I hadn't perfect light conditions like this since a long time ago! The Salinas de Maras was a really beautiful place. I took my time to shoot some really nice pictures, a wonderful experience to end this day full of visits and discoveries.

Very impressive arqueologic site in an amazing place sourrounded by mountains. The multiple role of this Inca place allow you to see many different types of construction and to understand how advanced they were on many aspect of architecture and agriculture technic.
It was also a real pleasure to hike in this valley, to enjoy the pleasure of hiking and culture discovery in the same time.

Pisac has his own charm, a little village very authentic in the late afternoon, when all the tourists are back to Cuzco. I enjoyed to walk in the streets of this little town, to visit shops and to observe the life of the people there.

I enjoyed my time in Cuzco, more than I thought, despite some facts. The youth hostel in which I was staying was ok...but loudy, and I had the impression that the guests were more in that place to get drunk that to visit any part of the city.
I had a diner with a brasilian girl who was a "jumper" traveler. She wasn't speaking english and a very bad spanish...Half of the time, she was speaking to me in portugese and I coudn't understand half of the discussion.
On saturday, I walked in the center [...]

to find myself a Pancho, a cap and new gloves. After this little shopping session, I went to the ruins of Qenko, el templo de la luna, Chukimarka, the fortress of Puca Pucara and the fountains of Tombomachay. It was nice and instructive.
I tried to find some ruins in the east of Cuzco, without success. In this research, I crossed many poor neighborhoods and I have been to some places which gave me an other aspect of the city.
On Sunday, I went to the ruins of Sacsayhuamán. Probably the most impressive archelogic site of Cuzco. I was suprised by a parade when I came back to la plaza de armas. I would like to tell you why there was one, but I didn't find the reason on internet. Before to leave the city for Pisac, I went to the museum Qorikancha...Probably one of the most ridiculous museum I ever see.

After a hike of 8 hours, we shake hands with our team and our guide and we get on a shuttle which bring us back to Huaraz.
I leave the place with some nostalgy. The Huayhuash cordilera was absolutely wonderful..an amazing place. I have plenty of wonderful photos to work and nice memories.
The next day, I rest my self in my hostal. Sadly, someone stole my earphones bose...horror, because it was the best earphones ever and it cost me a fortune. I leave Huaraz, bitter of this costly loss, trying [...]

to relativize.

Llamac

On the last day, I am discovering myself some unsuspected resources. I am the first to reach all the passes of our daily hike. I don't have any headache anymore. I feel myself in a really good form. It's a beautiful last day, during which we saw beautiful landscapes along the four valleys we crossed on that day.

Llaucha Pass

Camping Guspha- 25 avr. 2017

After a lunch, a cool downhill was bringing us to our last campsite.
We arrived quite early at our campsite Guspha. This was almost the first time that we had a real sunny afternoon! Everyone used this opportunity to dry his clothes.
Unfortunely, a fiery debate about hospital, civil servants and nurses during the dinner with Claire will angry her toward me definitively. It's the beginning of a cold situation between me and the frenchs of our group...I should stop speaking politics with my com [...]

I finaly seem to get use myself to heights! I am hiking faster and I am feeling myself better. We had a sunny and beautiful morning during which I walked 8km and I climbed almost 1200m until the Tapush pass.
Mathieu, Claire and I had a nice resting time in front of el Diablo Mudo.

Camping Huayllapa- 24 avr. 2017

What didn't helped is that just after lunch, it started to rain with thunders. My shoes and my trouser were soaked...again. I was very tired, walking behind all the people of the trek.
The guide decided to put me on a horse during 30 minutes to help me to get some energy back, which helped me a lot.
The walk until the campsite was very very long. We all underestimated how long it was. At our arrival, we were exhausted. The night which followed was probably my best night because it was probably [...]

the one during which I needed to rest at most.

San Antonio Pass

When I arrived in the plain just before climbing the San Antonio pass, I was feeling good. This ascension litteraly broke me...the mud on the way didn't make the task more easier. However, the view rewarded our efforts. I would have stayed longer but this day was plan to be the longest day of the trek so we had to go back quickly. When we went back down to the plain where our guide was waiting for us, I felt my self really weak.

I remember to wake up in a frozen campsite. I tried to warm my hands by keeping them above a candle in the main tent. I tried to grill our dried morning bread with this same candle. The hot water to make us tea was like a salvation on this freezing morning.
The muleteer did the same mistake I did once in France: removing the frozen water with hot water...if you do this under 0 degree, it's quite stupid.
What was rain in our altitudes was of course snow in the heights...which maked the morning [...]

hike quite difficult (The Cuyoc pass is at 5000m of altitude) but offered us also an amazing landscapes. We were lucky with the weather during the morning.
This weather shema was becoming repetitiv: blue sky in the early morning until 10am. Some rare clouds until 12am. Rain at 1pm and sometimes, some late clearings at 4pm or before the night.

From the beginning of the treck, we all knew that sunday would be a cool day, with less walk than usual and close to the campsite arrival was a thermal bath. It was perfect, it helped us to relax and allowed us to wash ourself.
Sadly, it rained the whole end of the afternoon. We played cards in the main tent and drinked tea to keep ourself warm...This was our highest campsite during our trek: 4400m.

The saturday morning was probably one of our beautifulest moment in the Huayhuash trek. The weather was just perfect and the colors offered us a wonderful spectacle. We saw avalanches and wonderful reflections in the lagunes. We had only one pass on this day but it almost killed me. I had headache again and also some stuns. From the beginning of the afternoon I was not feeling well. The beautiful landscapes helped me to forget my problems until our arrival to the campsite.
Once we arrived in th [...]

e campsite, I tried to reduce my headache with paracetamol and with some tea. We had a good diner, at 6pm! It was becoming a habit to diner early. After our hikes we were all starving and were falling in our sleeping bags at 8pm at the lastest.

First day of hike. After some efforts, I felt my self already very breathless...nothing very surprising, I was'nt used to the altitude (the treks in the heights of Ecuador was dating) and I was lacking air. Despite those difficulties, I was the first of our group to reach our first pass: Cacanapunta Pass. We crossed a beautiful valley and we began to climb the second pass a litte bit before lunch.
When we arrived to the second pass, I had headache. The lunch is quite simple but helped a little b [...]

it my headache. Unfortunetly, We hadn't the time to finish our plates that it started to snow. I began to have very cold, my headache became very strong, my trouser and my shoes became soaked in 15 minutes.
Thankfully, just after we passed the pass, the snow and the rain stoped. When we arrived in our camp, the weather became a little better and we were able to admire four gigantic mountains of the Huayhuash cordillera: the Yerupaja (6635m), the Yerupaja chico (6121m), the Jirishanca (6126m) and the Ninashanca (5607m).
On our arrival, I had strong headache. I put my wet stuff to dry and I tried to rest.
The campsite of Carhuacocha was probably the best campsite spot I had ever seen in my life, offering an amazing view on the most impressives mountains of the Huayhuash trek with beautiful reflections in the lagune of Carhuacocha.

I joined Mathieu, Claire and Malo for a famous treck of 8 days called Huayhuash in the south of Huaraz. The trek is not very expensive, 30$ per day, and everything is included: a guide, mules will cary our equipement and a cook will take care of the food for breakfast, lunch and diner. In my condition, it was a little bit crazy, so I took some Immodium and other things to avoid any health trouble during the trek.
We left Huaraz at 9:00 am. The three first hours of bus are quiet, we are crossing [...]

huge plains with hills and montains in the landscape background. It's the occasion to speak and get to know our companions for the trek to come: 3 boys from Israel and one couple of an english girl and a guy from danemark.
The two last hours of bus are more original. The road is made of dirt and gravel and the precipice isn't far. Even more fun, we met public buses on this road...the peruvians seems to deal with the crosses with a suprising serenity. The landscape were really beautiful, huge mountains and deep valley arised already in front of us.
After two hours of hectic roads, we arrived at our first campsite: Mitucocha. The guide, the cookr and the muleteer are already waiting for us. We discovered our tent for the night and enjoyed our first diner in the middle of mountains and hills. The temperature became really really cold when the night falled. I had some apprehensions for the days to come...but it was a little bit late for this!

Paul, the host of my hostel, advised me to do a little walk of four hours around the Laguna of Wilcacocha.
I went to the puente Santa Cruz with a french dude. On our arrival to the bridge, it started to rain a lot and during 20 minutes, I almost thought I would return to my youth hostel and forget to walk for the day.
But we were lucky, after some patience, the weather gave us some nice clearings and I enjoyed my first hike in the areas of Huaraz region.

Beginner mistake. I bought a ticket bus for Huaraz at 1:30, thinking it was at 1:30am...but it was pm. Therefore, I arrived in a really awful neightborhood of the north of Lima where I had to find myself a hostel to take a bus the next day. I met whores and other kinds of peoples on my way, I slept in a kind of rotten motel and left early for Huaraz by exchanging my bus ticket.
I arrived well at Huaraz in the late afternoon, I feel myself a little bit tired but ok. I have some dizziness but p [...]

In the evening, we went to the Laguna Huacachina and we had diner in a nice place.

Ica

Islas Ballestas

I feel my self a little bit tired and my stomach is still painful but it was a beatiful day. During the whole day, the landscapes reminded me Egypte! Las islas Ballestas are full of different species of birds and we saw also a lot of sea lions, a full colony of them!

The day of my travel to Ica was hard. I felt my self tired, I had fever and strong pain to my stomach. Paracetamol pills was working well but I could feel my self really tired by some illness. Two causes could have been the reason of this sudden change: I maybe get cold in a swimming pool on a roof or I haven't been careful enough and drinked a little bit of the shower (which you have to avoid absolutely in Peru).
I went to the hospital of Ica accompagnied. I should write an article about Peruv [...]

ian Hospital. I went out of the "emergencia" with anti-biotics treatment, some pills to calm down my stomach and pain in the ass after a brutal injection of some anti-biotics cocktail.

I stayed 6 days in Lima during which I met new people and old friends, I visited and enjoyed the city and I had some nice and first experiences of the peruvian food.
I met Troops, a cool english guy who was in my room with Sean during my time in Quito. We went for a walk together in the neightborhood of Miraflores. We found a good place to have a drink close to the Kennedy park and we went out at night: first in a hostal-bar quite crazy called Loki and after a terrible bottle of rhum, in a danc [...]

ing club.
During my sunday breakfast, I met three girls from Holland: Deborah, Stefany and Magva. I had nice chats whith them. I did some plans for the day and rested myself during the afternoon. I met the girls again in the late afternoon and we went together to El parque de las Aguas in the center of Lima. Our evening followed by some drinks in the center of Miraflores and we finished the night by dancing salsa.
On monday morning, I met Laurent from Tout Perou (The french organization who helps travels on their arriving in the country).
A Wonderful briefing has been given to me to help me getting general ideas about what I want to do in Peru. Sadly my stomach wasn't going so well and I went to a private clinic to do some exams...which didn't revealed anything.
I met Helena and Arthur again who joined my hostel to meet the people of Tout Perou. I went to a restaurant with Troops and his brother who was just arrived in Lima.
On Tuesday I met Flory, a peruvian girl from Lima who contacted me 2 months ago on Couchsurfing. She was nice and had the kindness to make me visit the neightborhood of Barranco. We went in nice places, had a good lunch, the weather was perfect.

I took a bus for Huaquillas, an ecuatorian city close to the Peruvian border. I took a third and last bus at Huaquillas for Piura, I left Ecuador for good and crossed the border without any problems. I arrived in Piura at 8pm, exhausted, after 15 hours of bus!
I was expecting a high amount of water in the streets and a strong rain but it was exactly the opposite: the weather was humid and very hot, everything in the street looked dry but I noticed in many places witnesses of a recent flood.
I [...]

stayed two nights, waiting for my flight for Lima, in a small backpacker hostel hold by a young Peruvian architect. Jorge was really nice, he offered me my first experiences of Pisco cocktails and cooked also a very tasty meal on Friday. We talked about a lot of things and I had also the occasion to practice my Spanish with a Colombian and a Venezuelan.
I shared also some drinks at the hostel with Peruvians from Piura, it was nice!
I didn't do much things in Piura but the meetings I had with different people made my time there much more enjoyable that I thought. A nice preamble to my adventures in Peru.

I stayed five days in Montañita in a cool place, a little bit a part from the city itself. For once, I had a truly resting time with Arthur and Helena. There was a crazy weather, warm and sunny, but the nice beach of Montañita was never very far and we enjoyed it a lot. The water was warm, the sand was perfect
We cooked our self some nice meals, we went chilling on the beach, we drinked occasionaly some cocktails and we enjoyed the beautiful sunsets on the beach of Montañita.
I tried myself [...]

to do some surf but it has been a frank failure :-p
I did beautiful fotos of sunsets, insects and Iguanas who hangs out in many place of the city.

After the success from the day before, we bought fish again directly on the beach and we cooked a delicious meal. It sadly started to rain in the early evening, so we took some beers at our hostel. A lot of people wished me a good birthday and I was very touched by their kindness.

Île de la Plata

On the day of my birthday, the day I became 26 years old, we went for a tour to the island of silver (isla de plata). It was a nice day during which we saw beautiful birds, turtles and other nice species of fish. We had a little hike on the island with french guys from Canada.

We left Guayaquil early because we wanted to join the coast. After 4 hours by bus we arrived at Puerto Lopez, a village of fishermen.
The temperature is really warm and the air really humide, completly different to the weather I just experienced in the ecuatorian Andes. We went swimming in the sea, we enjoyed the beach and we walked through the small village.
We enjoyed a dinner with fresh fish bought over the beach. A really nice and first day on the ecuatorian coast.

In the middle of the afternoon, we all left our hostel for Guayaquil. Arnaud and Mathilde have a flight on the 29th of March for the Galapagos. I am joining Arthur and Helena to spend some time with them on the ecuatorian south coast.

Cuenca- 27 mars 2017

We came back to Cuenca in the late afternoon and visited a hat factory. The one of Homero Ortega in Cuenca, a cool visit, instructive and fun. After 14 cocktails for 28$ we finished the day in our hostel, cooking simple but tasty meals...à la bonne franquette.
On the next morning, while Arthur and Helena are still waking up, I went for a walk in the streets of Cuenca with Arnaud and Mathilde. For once, we had a wonderful weather. I discovered the nice architecture of Cuenca and it's streets on [...]

Arnaud, Mathilde and I met an other french couple in our hostel in Cuenca: Arthur and Helena. Together we went to the parc .. and did wonderful hike of 5 hours in a beautiful area surrounded by mountains and small lakes. The light wasn't so good for photos but I enjoyed very much this nice hike with my compatriots.

I wanted to stop in Ingapirca because I knew it would be more or less my last stop in the ecuatorian Andes before going to Peru.
Sadly, just one hour after my arrival, a heavy rain started and didn't stop until the night. I had some Wi-Fi and did some administration stuff during the afternoon.
When I wake up early in the morning, it is still raining...-_-
Finally, just after 10am, we had some clearings and I went to the ruins of Ingapirca. I did also a nice walk on the Cara del Inca.

I waked up with a strange feeling, I am not fine..I realized that I forgot my gloves at the end of hike in the Cotopaxi parc. The shower of my hostel is cold like hell. I progresively find back my smile when the guide picked me up with Arnaud and Mathilde at my hostel. The day started well despite the terrible weather but the following hours became bad: the weather didn't gave us any chance to see the Chimborazo, the guide had a strange behavior and was not really professional and I dropped my b [...]

oth camera lenses! I was extremely lucky, because one wasn't too much damaged but sadly, I broke the zoom of one of them.
I really enjoyed the company of Arnaud and Mathilde who helped me to keep a good mood during this unlucky day and we finished the day in a nice restaurant in Riobamba.

I arrived in the late afternoon at Riobamba, a city surrounded by volcanos and mountains. I met Arnaud and Mathilde, the couple of French I met in Amazon. It was fun to met each other again. After some hesitation we booked a small tour for the next day to see the Chimborazo volcano.

Let be honest...Baños itself is an ugly city. What makes it attractive are all the surrounding areas. All those green mountains and hills with waterfalls are making this place unique.
The best experience I had there, was to go down the valley under Baños with a rented bicycle. The traffic was alright and the landscapes were beautiful.
I also met nice people in my hostel like Abel, an dutch guy who knows to cook vegeterian burgers like a pro. The hostel host, Victor, was also very kind.
During [...]

my last day, we had a wonderful sun but I never saw the volcano Tungurahua cleared of clouds. I'm not disapointed after the luck I had in the Cotopaxi parc.
I'll never forget those beautiful green mountains around Baños.

I wake up early in the morning and decided to walk until the south entrance skiping the refuge. The Cotopaxi is cleared of clouds until 9 a clock am. On my way, after three hours of hike with my heavy bagbacks I am really lucky to meet really sympathic cops who brought me until the main road in south of Quito where I took a bus to Latacanga.

Tambopaxi Lodge- 20 mars 2017

30 minutes after I crossed the entrance of the parc the rain stoppped and the volcano of Cotopaxi started to be cleared of clouds. Never my perserverance had been so well rewarded! On my arrival in the lodge Tambopaxi, I am suprised...I am the only client!..and 6 employees, tired of boredom, are drinking alcool. The evening and the night are without stories except the fact that the sunset is completly amazing and I did wonderful photos of the volcano of Cotopaxi.

When the bus arrived, Clouds are everywhere, it started to rain and I could hear violent thunders...The weather is playing with my morale. I decided not to lose my courage, I put my pancho and started to walk in a path where some part were almost rivers. A farmer made me win 20 minutes by bringing me a little close to the entrance of the parc.

Pascal and I left Cahuasqui really early. That allows me to arrive at Machachi at 12.
At first, I was thinking to stay in a place recommended by "Tout Equateur" but the weather is sunny so I decided to bet on my chance: I made a reservation in the Lodge of Tambopaxi, inside of the parc of the volcano Cotopaxi. After a quick lunch, I took a bus for the north entrance of the Cotopaxi parc.

It is difficult to give an accurate opinion about my time in Cahuasqui only in few words. The place is beautiful and the potential of landscapes is amazing (like a lot of places in the Andes). Sadly, I never had a really nice weather during my week-end there. I visited the region by bus (which is really cheap) and by walking. I was the only one in the hostel, which was a little bit too bad because I didn't the opportunity to met other travelers. However, I had really interesting discussions with [...]

my host Pascal who teached me a lot of things about Ecuador: the political context, the social context, environnements and economic issues, etc.
While my stay, I had also some nice opportunities to make street photography in the village of Cahuasqui, Pablo Arenas et Tumbabiro. I also enjoyed the thermal bath of Chachimbiro.

I am lucky to have a wonderful weather when I wake up. It's the perfect day to see the lagoon which is close to the community where I'm staying. Daniel, the second older son, accompanied me during a hike all around the [lagune]. On our arrival the weather is good but in 4 hours we will have everything: sun, cloudy sky, rain, storm and finally...hail.
On our return, a delicious soup and a fire are waiting for us. The meals was always tasteful.
All along the afternoon and during the diner, I was [...]

able to discuss with the family in spanish. I learned a lot about their way to live, their actual preoccupations, and how they see the future.
The next day, I had a delicious breakfast of creps and I did a little walk with Daniel in a beautiful place close to the Chacapamba community. One of the older sister dressed herself with a magnificent dress just after I ask her if I could take a foto of her and her mother. I left the family after lunch with sadness, I was probably leaving one of the most authentic place of my travel in Ecuador.

After 3 bus and a taxi I arrived in the late afternoon in the small community called Chacapamba and more specifically, in the house of Segundo Morales, an ecuatorian with indigenous origins. On my arrival, Segundo is at work. I have the pleasure to met first his childrens and his wife.
I went for a walk with two of his children in the surrounding area to take some photos, but the weather is cloudy and it's becoming dark.
During the diner, I finally met the whole family. I'm surprised to hear Q [...]

uitchua, a indigenous language used by the whole family. This language doesn't have any similarities with latin language. Originally spoken by the Incas, it has an official place in the ecuatorian society.

There was a crazy movie from bollywood in the bus. The landscapes outside are amazing: green hills, lakes and huge volcanos. There are houses in many places, a big part of the population seems to be rural.

My time in Quito was short but nice despite a constant rain and important problems with my stomach.
I had nice discussions with Micha, a french girl who was working in my youth hostel. I met her just before leaving Quito for the Amazon and we promise to see each other again on my return.
Before leaving Quito for the north, I met my French companions of the Amazon in the permanent market of Quito to get an original lunch together. After good byes, I took the direction of the bus terminal Carcele [...]

n to leave Quito.

Reserva de producción de Fauna Cuyabeno- 10 mars 2017

My time in Amazonia was a really memorable experience. I had the chance to see tens of different species of animals during our time there: snakes, monkeys, caiman, bats, sloths, birds and beautiful insects. I had also the chance to admire and understand the complexity of the amazonia jungle ecosystem and to understand how unique it is. The jungle wasn't so aggresiv than what I thought. All animals are more adapting a self-defense system. They was not so much mosquitos thanks to the acidity of th [...]

e water caused by surrounding nature (especially certain leafs).
During our four nights in the jungle, we slept in lodges. The whole place was a nice site with hammocks and deck chairs, you had cofee and tea whenever you want between excursions in the jungle. We visited a community who was living in the deep jungle. We saw how they were cooking their own bread from roots and we had some funny time with the shaman of the village.

In the shuttle, I am getting to know the companions of my lodge, including Mathilde, Arnaud and Olivier, three french. Mathilde and Arnaud are two young md living in Amiens and traveling through a part of South America. Olivier is a young cooker from Toulouse.
The shuttle brought us to an outpost where we had lunch and met our guide David who was joining us for the adventure that were about to start.

Lago Agrio- 9 mars 2017

I left Quito for Lago Agrio with a uncomfortable night bus. I arrived early in the morning and I took a breakfast with nice guys of my hostel. We waited two hours a shuttle which arrived around 9.am.

Secret Garden- 7 mars 2017

On the first day I went to walk alone in the city to do some photos. I rapidly understand that the weather is capricious in Quito. Actually, I never had good lights except on my arrival in the city. That said, I enjoyed a lot to walk in the capital. In the evening, I soon met really nice people, including Sean and Trups, my two roommates. The first one is Australian and the second is from London. The youth hostel is full of dutchs and americans, I drinked a lot of beers, practiced my english, I [...]

went out, to dance salsa. On wednesday I went to la mittad del Mundo with Sean and Trups, a famous museum of science close to Quito. I felt asleep in the planatorium.
My time in my youth hostel of Quito and more generaly in the capital was very sympathic, It was a quiet step, the prologue of this new chapter of my travel.

For the first time in my trip, I feel myself a little bit tired by the trip. Not that I don't like it, it has been awesome until now, it's just that sometimes, you would like to have more time to digest all those amazing experiences. The routine is a way of life in which we are so much use to, that intense life is a completly new experience.
I arrived in Quito in the late afternoon. A part of the city is beautiful, a colonial architecture caracterised the historical center and you have nice chu [...]

rches everywhere. The city is build on hills, the streets are always sloping. The food cost nothing in Ecuador, a first good surprise among many others.
Just after my arrival, I met François and Adrien, two french dudes who are working for Tout Equateur, a tourist solidar network which provide you many interesting informations about accomadations, activities, visits and other tips. In two hours, François helped me a lot to set the main points of interest which could interest me and I already began to have a better overview on what I will do in Ecuador.
The tuesday morning, I left the hostel in which I was because the vibe was dead and I went to the Secret Garden youth hostel.

This is it! I just arrived at the airport of Bogota with Chloé and Alexis and at the exact location where we met one month ago we had to say each other goodbye. I am sad of course to leave them.
I don't understand how things had happend so quickly. I succeeded not to explode emotionaly (even if my heart is playing drums) and took a cab to meet my old colleague and friend Stephane in Bogota.
Stephane is living in a nice appartment in the north of Bogota. Of course, we talked about work and mult [...]

iple caracteritics of his new life in Colombia. I accompanied him to buy a moto and then we went in a bar for a drink where I had finally the occasion to taste good beer. One of his friend met us for diner.
Like my time in Santiago before flying to Colombia, I thought I would not do a lot of things in Bogota. But what happend was the exact contrary thanks to Anny, a colombian friend I met in Baranquilla. She had to go in Bogota for her job in the same time as me so she improvised herself as my guide for my greatest pleasure. We went to the Teatro Mayor to see the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra playing concerto for piano n°3 from Sergei Prokofiev and the symphony n°10 from Dmitri Shostakovich.
We had really nice time in the neightborhood of Usaquen, in the historical center of Bogota, in the museum of gold and also in the botanic garden.
I had the occasion to taste a tamal, a tipical dish that I hadn't try until now in Colombia.
The best memories I'll probably remember will be this awesome view at night that we had from Monserate, a place which overcomes the whole capital and offers a wonderful view.

We are back to Barranquilla just for one night in the house of Luz. Alexis was coming back to France so he helped me to lighten my bag. We went to a restaurant with Luz Nidia and Anny.
On the next morning, Luz offered us breakfast. One hour later we took a cab for the Barranquilla airport.

Our time in Cartagena was improvised during our time in Baranquilla. After a nice weekend in Baranquilla, we thought it was too bad not taking the time to see a part of the city of Cartagena.
It was nice that Jair could come with us. We had the chance to spend some time with him in the city, I was really happy to see the typical colonial architecture that caracterised the old part of the city.
Alexis convinced me to chill out in the swimming pool on the roof of our hostel.. he was right, this [...]

last swim with all the buildings of Cartagena all around us was awesome. Short but intense stay.

We arrived in the late afternoon in Barranquilla. We don't have the chance to be in the center because it's the carnaval and everything is already booked or too expensive. The district in which we are isn't so good. Just after we finished the check in at our hostel, we took a taxi (which was more a little truck than a taxi) and we went to see a show in the south of the city, close to the stadium.
Second day is a real first day in the city. After taking a taxi to arrive in the center, We did a w [...]

alk among shops and little attractions. At the end of the day, we went dancing cumbia a la plaza de la paz.
Third day in Barranquilla! Alex, his wife Marivel and there daughter Manuella are sadly leaving us, they were going back to their home in Pereira. After some warming goodbyes, we went to the via 40 to watch the main parade. There are thousands of different costumes and each group has more or less his own way to dance. We played with pistols of soap among the crowd, drinked some Aguila and admired the life of Barranquilla carnaval.
We met Eloise and Thomas, french friends of Alexis and Chloé who joined the group.
The final night with the chilean family was taking place close to the bar la Troja.
The fourth day, the chilean family were returning home. It made me really really sad. Time is running, as always, and the Colombia is close to the end. Hopefully, we had an amazing afternoon again, who helped me to deal with my nostalgia. I met Guillaume, a franco-colombiano who was also a friend of Alexis and Chloé. With his friends, we went to see an amazing defile the whole afternoon.
At the end of the day, we found the perfect place to dance, in the south of Barranquilla.

As the group is becoming a little bit smaller, we can't continue to keep an entire bus for our own needs. We took a regional bus to go to Palomino, a little village between the caribbean sea and the mountains.
The coast is touristic but not the kind of tourism I have seen until now. It's more a place full of young europeans, hippies, and other original types.
The first night is already the occasion to enjoy plenty of mojitos, to dance salsa and observe the sky laid on the beach.
On the second [...]

day, we waked up early for a little tour that Jair had prepared. 10 young guys were waiting for us with their motorcycles to bring us in a deeper forest where you can start to go down on the river (El río de Palomino) with a circular buoy. One of the funny thing was to finish our descent when the river flows into the sea. A really cool experience..even if I was really really tired!
The rest of the day, I enjoyed the swimming pool and good food and took some time to rest.
Last day in Palomino was nice, I enjoyed the hot water of the caribbean, the beach, a pizza, the sand, I went also for a walk along the sea...nice moments.

Back to Santa Marta, I understood that a crazy night is waiting for us. We took an old bus transformed into a disco. After a good warming up I went to a dancing club with Alexis, Chloé, Paulie, Estevan and Javiera. The night was fun and crazy.
Sunday is a quite day during which everybody is resting. Maca and Ivan are sadly leaving the group and returning to Santiago.

We went to another famous beach with our bus. On our arrival, we are facing some problem with local corrupted cops. We arrived in the city of Taganga by foot where we took a small local boat to go on a famous beach: la playa grande de Taganga
There, we enjoyed a quiet and sunny afternoon, with (a lot of) beers, of course.

After a chummy breakfast along the Rio de Magdalena in Mompos, we left Mompos with our bus for Santa Marta.
On the tuesday 16th, we took a (very) local bus to go to the museum la quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino which is also the place where Simon Bolivar, the famous liberator of many countries of the north of South America, leaved his last days.
In the late afternoon we took our bus to go in the coast of Santa Marta. We had the chance to admire the sunset and we went after to a restaurant where [...]

When you learned that 8 hours of buses for a columbian guy is in fact 12 hours...
Mompos is a nice city along the Rio Magdalena. At a time, the city was a main place for exchange and a key points for business of any kind related to the ressources produced in Colombia.
The houses and other buildings reminds the hispanique architecture but with some details and decorations which caracterised the Colombia style.
We visited the city by a very hot weather with the help of a local guide and some mot [...]

orcycles. I went to cut my hair and we went for a very nice tour by boat on the Rio de Magdalena. We finished the day in the main place of the city, singing and playing guitar.

We left Belén de Umbria after we saw our intervention in a local interview for the local television. The landscapes on our arrival in the valley of Riosucio was really impressive.
After a short break, we continued our road, made a short stop in a Panela factory to see how it is produced.
We arrived in the night to a house we booked for the week-end close to Medellín, in Santa Elena.

In the afternoon we left the house with a with a small minibus, crossed a valley with many sugar cane fields and went to small village called Belen.
Belén de Umbria is a small town not so much touristic in the middle of green hills and small mountains. We are welcomed by Jair mother and his ante. The house is rustic but cute and funny. Belén is surrounded by coffee, banana and cacao fields.
On the first day, we went with a Carpati in a valley and we walked through the jungle to a magnifi [...]

cent waterfall. On our way, we visited a little school and some people of the surrounding areas. The landscapes were beautiful and the nature very unique. We had also a delicious lunch made of tasty fish and local things.
At the end of the day, we visited a family house in the middle of the agriculture fields and Raoul, our passionate guide, explained us a lot about the culture of coffee and cacao in Colombia.
Our second day in Belen was dedicated to the discovery of coffee and cacao agriculture and production. We spend a big part of the day in a family house, we went to a museum and we finished the day by making our own chocolate!!! A wonderful experience that I'll never never forget!

Two hours later we were getting on a plane for Cali to meet Jair and his cousin.
After we founded them, we went in a house in the middle of the hills at 30 minutes from Cali and enjoyed good food with a group a chileans (friends of Jair).
The morning is quiet. We had the occasion to enjoy a swimming pool in our house. The weather changed a lot since my recent experience in Chili. It's now very humide and the temperature is around 30 degrees the whole day.

Katie brought me at the airport in the early morning and I arrived at Bogota one hour late. Avianca is apparently not really skilled to manage punctual flight.
I am sad to leave Chili. I had awesome moments there.
I spend my afternoon in Bogota airport working some photos of New Zealand and waiting for Chloé and Alexis arrival. I was really happy to find them shortly after there arrival and we drinked beers to celebrate our meeting.

I went to Constitution as a volunteer to help in a veterinarian hospital. I was accompagnied with Lorena, a friend of Jair, Dañielo and Andrea.
As a volunteer, I didn't do much but it was a very interesting experience to see a veterinarian hospital of volunteers in Chile. We went also in the middle of the countryside to help a horse which had been injured by the recent fires in Chile.
It was very sad to discover how the landscapes had been impacted by the important fires in this region. [...]

The farmer that we helped had lost the half of his animals including 20 horses.

I arrived after 10 hours of bus to Punta Arenas. I was exhausted. Fortunately, the kindness of Maria and her daughter helped me.
At 5:00 in the morning, I took a flight for Santiago and left Pantagonia.

El Chaltèn is a small town, quite touristic but less than El Calafate and with really different landscapes. You're in the middle of the micro climat that everyone is talking about: between the Andes and and the desert. You arrive in El Chaltèn by crossing some kind of a desert where nothing grows, except bushes and some herbes. El Chaltèn is really well situated, in the middle of huge rocks and mountains, where the landscapes is becoming much more green with big trees, some waterfalls and riv [...]

ers.
I spended my whole time there with two Germans really really nice: Marie and Andreas. They was both studying medicine and there were spending some time in Pantagonia before going to work in Buenos Aires. Together, we did almost 85km of hike in El Chaltèn. We had really intense days during which we enjoyed a lot to walk through the crazy landscapes of the region of El Chaltèn. I will never forget our "mate break" in front of amazing landscapes!

My budget bleeds..the Argentina Pantagonia is to South America what Swiss is to Europe. I finally choose to go for the walk on the Perito Moreno glacier. The experience is very expensive and I'm quite unlucky with the weather...but despite this, I have to admit the landscapes was crazy and the experience really unique.

When I wake up at 09:00 am in the morning, the only bus left for El Calafate is at 2:00 pm and is quite expensive.
After some thoughts, I decided to follow the Italian guy I just met the day before and to do hitch hiking with him.
Unfortunately, after 30min, we aren't lucky and nobody is taking us. We decided to split and I waited 1h30 without success. When I finally decided to take the bus, I arrived to late at the bus terminal and the bus was already gone.
Hitch hiking became a option to a [...]

necessity...I took 6 different cars to arrive in El Calafate. Actually, I was quite lucky and the experience was fun. However, I am not sure I will take the same risks on my return to Punta Arenas!
During the diner, I met two young french students who studied 6 month in Argentina and were actually on there final trip in Pantagonia before returning home.

Fortunately, the weather became better during the day and I had the chance to admire the glacier Grey at beautiful lights. During the diner, I met a german girl and two french guys really fun. We went together to enjoy the last rays on the glacier, it was beautiful.

Lodge Lago Grey

After a good breakfast of nutella with bread and cafe and a light sun ray, I met again my courage, packed my stuff and started the walk to "El glaciar Grey" at 10 am.

Lodge Paine Grande- 22 janv. 2017

When I arrived in the camping Paine Grande, I am at the end of my life...truly! My shoulders are hurting me like hell. The weather is not so good and the campground is not well protected from the wind. Of course, everyone peaked already the best protected places. With pain and huge tiredness, I try to make something solid (with rocks and wood) so that my cheap tent don't break totally in the middle of the night.
My tent did hold the night but I had a terrible sleep and it still raining a lot [...]

in the morning..my moral is at zero.

Glaciar del Francés

Really really really crazy day. 40km, 7 hours of walk with 21kg and 2h30 of walk with my small bag and my camera. In total, almost 10 hours of walk in the same day to reach the campground of Paine Grande. The biggest attractions of the day was "El Glaciar del francés" and "Los Cuernos". From the lookout of the francés, you can observe a mountain with an awesome view with glaciars everywhere! The ice was sometimes falling down, doing a noise of thunder in the whole valley...A very first and uni [...]

que experience.

Torres del Paine- 21 janv. 2017

Nice day, with a beautiful weather and multiple opportunities to do great photos. I saw the famous "Torres del Paine". I had diner with the three french guys I met on the first day. Their organization for Torres del Paine is worst than mine and sadly, we can't continue together.

The landscapes are amazing!
On my arrival in Torres del Paine, I met three french dudes: Antonin, Denis and Tristan. The poor guys were obliged to walk 4 hours to a campground really far because they did their reservation too late.
I had diner in the camping Las Torres with a Chilean guy who is also a guide for tourist. He offered me the half of his food..a benediction for me who was already starving.

During the ride from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, I had an interesting conversation in spanish with a young lawyer from Punta Arenas.
In the bus terminal of Puerto Natales, I just waited 1 hours to take an other bus for Torres del Paine!

My journey in Pantagonia started with the meeting of Maria, (a friend of Martha, the wife of Michael in Puerto Montt) a really nice women who live in the center of Punta Arenas with her daughter. I spended some time with them and we went for a little tour in Punta Arenas with her bicycles. I also took care of some details (bus, food, cash) for the coming days in Torres del Paine.

On my arrival at Santiago, I went to the house of Pablo, a friend of Jair. I met there a lot of people: Lilian, an adorable friend of Jair with who I had the pleasure to diner with Jair on Wednesday evening. I met also two Argentineans, friends and colleagues of Jair, Ingrid the sister of Maria (the same family that welcomed me at Talagante when I arrived in Chile) and a german girl who is living in the house of Pablo.
During this short time in Santiago, I had nice discussions with Jair, worked [...]

a lot my photos of New Zealand and contacted people for the future steps of my travel.
In the middle of the night between Wednesday and Thursday, I took a flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas.

I returned to Christian home and took care of my humide stuff on my arrival.
I change my plans because Jair wasn't avaiable to spend some time in Valpairaiso. I am spending the week-end in Puerto Montt.
I met the young friends of Christian's brother (who don't hold alcool well at all and reminded me I am getting old) but we had some music sessions very fun in the early evening.
On friday afternoon I went back to the Mercado Típico Caleta de Angelmó with Christian, Michael and Marta. We ha [...]

d a delicious lunch in the late afternoon with a nice view on the docks of the port. We picked up a couple friend of Christian: Nancy and Diego at the airport, and went in a club with latin music in the late evening. Very funny fact: all the clubs in Chile close at 5:00 in the morning. Big joke.
On saturday, we went for a walk in Puerto Montt with Nancy and Diego. We visited the museum and then, took a boat for the Tenglo Island. The ambiance there was like a small village.
In the evening, Michael invited us for diner at his home. The quality of pork grilled on barbecue is amazing. I am still trying to improve a lot my spanish through all the conversations I have with Christian's friends.
Michael is a cocktail pro, and I am drinking too much alcool lately. However, the way of living of Chileanos continue to impress me. The life in the south of Chile seems very comfortable.
On Monday, I finished to book some accomodations for my trip in Pantagonia and cooked some crepes. In the late afternoon, Christian and I joined Michael and Marta at a beer festival. It was fun, a band was playing in a open area, the weather was great and I enjoyed trying different kind of beers with my chileans companions of Puerto Montt.
After the beer festival, we continued to eat and drink at the house of Michael and Marta with a colleagues and a part of his family. I enjoyed very very much all this time with Christian and his friends. It was also a good occasion to improve my Spanish since nobody speaks English!
Tuesday was my last day at Christian's home and in the region of Puerto Montt. Christian was going to the Chiloe island with Nancy and his boyfriend so I had to go at the bus terminal by my own way. Michael and his usual kindness invited me for diner before dropping me to the bus terminal. I was very touched by his kindness and his generosity. He offered me a bottle of Chilean Piscoso, a really tasty alcohol drink I had appreciated very much on the first time at his home. After good byes, I get on a bus for 10 hours of drive through the night to arrive in Santiago in the morning.

Just after my arrrival at the walk, the gardian doesn't want to let me enter on the walk because it is too late. Hopefully, an experimented chilean, Benjamin, arrived at the same time as me and the gardian let me go with him. The chilean is running like hell. I decide to follow him and to do photos later.
The camping "La junta" is at four hours starting from the bottom of the valley. The hike who is leading there is shared between hikers and horses...Unnecessary to speak about the state of the [...]

path. "La junta" is a platform surrounded by 5 or 6 gigantic mountains of granite. The place is beautiful and unique. The hikes like "Trinidad" or "Anfiteatro" are chaotics and very difficult but the landscapes are worth the paine.

Jorge (the young brother of Christian) accompanied me to the bus station to take a bus for the valley of Cochamo. Christian talked me a lot about this place since my arrival so I am quite impatient to discover the place.
The bus is much more familial compare to the other buses for the usual destinations...You can feel that you are going in the countryside of Chile. The landscapes are really nice, despite the cloudy sky. The chileanos villages are colored and picturesques.

Some of Chileans don't hold well alcohol...like in France. I have some experience now and I never forget to drink 5 or 6 glasses of water before going to bed, the wake up wasn't so hard for me.
In the late morning, we finish to tidy the mess of the day when Felix invited us to stay at his home for the week-end with the family of Michael, a good friend of Christian. We took the car of Christian for walk just under the snow and the glacier of the volcano Orsono. It was fabulous!

When I am back from Chiloe Island, I don't really have the time to rest, Christian picked me at the Bus central station from Puerto Montt and we took the direction of Ensenada with three of his colleagues.
During the drive, I understand with my poor espanol knowledge that we are going to a big barbecue organized by a colleague of Christian (called El Gringo because of his name: Felix Brahman, the german origins are common in the south of Chile)
During Friday afternoon, evening and night, we [...]

eated and we drinked... the Chileans know how to live! There was an absolutely gorgeous choices of meats and drinks, I assisted to an orgy between 30 colleagues (only men!) who eated, drinked and cooked in a harmonious atmosphere.

Castro is a cute and colorful town with a church that have a Disney Land design but a really wonderful woody inside. I did a tour with the people of my youth hostel in Quielen and met a german dude and two chilean brothers who was speaking Swedish together (because there family had left Chile after Pinoche arrival).
I was very surprised to see dolphins (again :-p) and I discovered a bay of shellfish agriculture with sea lions and penguins. On the return, white wine with [moules] and bread was [...]

offered on board for lunch.
Despite the cloudy sky, I managed to get some sunburn. Added to the smell and the landscapes, this atmosphere was reminding me a lot to the french Normandie in the beginning of summer.
We ended the day with a wonderful barbecue at the backpacker hostel. Local beef meat, [poivrons et courgettes] grilled, chilean red wine and beers was on the menu and of course a little music session to end this day in the best way.

Colorful villages, cute atmosphere and very nice people. The Ancud experience ended very well with the encounter of a young peruvian women, Karen, with whom I did a tour in Puńuihil to see pinguins. We had dinner together and had a nice discussion about a lot of things. I hope to see her when I'll be visiting Peru.

During tuesday, I took time to organize a little bit the savings of my photos. I also started to think more accurately how to organize my time in Ecuator, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.
At the end of the afternoon, Chistrian came back from his work and we did a really cool tour at la Carretera Austral!

Christian, a friend of Jair, is a wonderful chilean guy. After my arrival, we went in the center of Puerto Montt to see the Mercado Típico Caleta de Angelmó.
After a little tour on the docks, we went in Puerto Varenas. It a city which mix german and americain architecture. It is of course due to the strong influence of the german colonists. You find also multiple manifestations of the german culture there. The city has a view on the Orsono volcano but sadly, this one was drowned in the clouds.

Resting day. We contacted Christian, a good friend of Jaïr who will host me in Puerto Montt. I get use to the coffee quality that Jaïr brought from Colombia. AMAZING COFFEE! We visited nice friends from Jaïr in the afternoon and had wonderful meals again.
I'm practicing Spanish like hell, but it is difficult to follow conversations because the chileans speak very fast.

I am back to Santiago by bus with Jaïr for the new year.
Saturday is mostly a planning day during which I have discussion with Jaïr about my time in Chile. I booked a flight for Punta Arenas for the 19th of January. The idea is to go from there to Torres Del Paine and Calafate!
The new year festivities was split in two parts: Jaïr and I went first to visit a really kind family ("like a second mother" was the words of Jair): Sucy and her daughter Denise. We had an amazing and delicious [...]

diner and our hosts were really hearty!
We left them after midnight to meet Celeste, a close chilean friend of Jair. Together, we went to a small party in Santiago center. Rhum and salsa brought us to dance until the sunrise...
...and 2017 began :-D

I spend an amazing time in the veterinarian clinic. I had a lot of discussions with Jair and I started to work on my trip organization in Chili.
The family who lived there arrived on the 30th of december in the late afternoon and I assist to a family meeting during which I was happy to met new people, practicing my first spanish skills and eat delicious salmon and beef (grilled on barbecue)!
The welcome from the Chilean family was really great and I feel really really really lucky to have [...]

The 29th of december 2016, I set foot on South American continent for the first time in my life!
¡Gran evento!
Jair, my columbian friend, ordered me a taxi who brings me on my arrival in a big ranch (which is actually a veterinarian clinic for horses) next to Talagante.
También tuve el éxito de tener mi primera verdadera discusión en español con el taxi.

My time on the easter island was short and really great. Unfortunately, I didn't had the chance to met a lot of people but I had wonderful weather and also really great opportunities to make beautiful photos (an other album which could promess nice results!).
I had also the pleasure to drive for once a good motorcycle and that offered me a perfect flexibility to get the best lights and to visit the island by myself.
Rapa Nui is very unique place that is worth to visit. The atmosphere has also so [...]

mething particular and the people are really kind. I was very happy to live this short but intense experience before arriving in the south american continent.

I had a quiet and resting week in Tahiti. I went out with Adrien and his dogs twice and worked a lot on saving and working my photos.
We had a really nice Christmas time at Nico and Amel home, two good friends of Adrien.
The diner was very french! (Salmon toast, nails, good sheep meat and green been, delicious ice cream)

Rainy day. I am sad to leave “Rangi” and I’m very very tired. I need to sleep more because I accumulated some sleep during the last days. Some musicians are playing a sweet song during my wait in Rangiroa airport. My travel continues to be amazing and really intense but it is sometime exhausting.

Island Products Rangiroa Aeroport

l’île aux récifs- 15 déc. 2016

Léon, a very kind polynesian dude from Rangiroa took us on his boat for a wonderful tour of a really beautiful place: l’Île aux récifs. I was joined by Christophe, (a father I met in the scuba diving club) with his wife and their son and a young couple of spanish really kind who were in Rangiroa for their honeymoon.
I had a small dinner during which I had the occasion to get knowing Elsa, a girl I dived with who is replacing the permanent physiotherapist in Rangiroa.

I had a resting time in the morning and I dived in the afternoon. We did a sunset dive, very fun and I had the chance to see dolphins and a hammer shark really close!

Avatoru- 13 déc. 2016

The captain of the blue lagoon tour invited me for a beer at his home. After two Hinano (local beers), I had the pleasure to share with him a fresh fished fish and we had discussion about various subjects which helped me to understand better the way of life in Rangiroa.

Lagon Bleu

Visit of the blue lagoon of Rangiroa, a famous spot where you can observe a beautiful lagoon, sharks and birds. The landscapes are surrealist, I have the feeling I am visiting a kind of paradise...I still don’t really realise I am actually in the middle of the Pacific ocean, swimming in a water at 28° watching sharks and other beautiful fishes. This life can’t be true.

First dive of my World Trip, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It is an amazing experience with a wonderful visibility, a magnificent blue and a diversity of animals you can’t imagine.
I had nice discussions in the evening with Etienne, a french medic from New Caledonia replacing the permanent medic of Rangiroa during two months. We had the pleasure to dinner some delicious crayfishes at my pension, cooked by Loïc (my host).

After a short flight and a wonderful view on a clear and blue ocean, I arrived in Rangiroa, one of the most famous atol close to Tahiti, well known for its scuba diving spots and its landscape's beauty. Rosine, a polynesian women also the cousin of my host picked me up at the airport and began to introduce me the particularity of the Rangiroa Atoll and the lagoon on our way to my pension.
On my arrival to “Rangiroa Plage” (my pension), I plant my tent quickly and started talking with my hos [...]

ts, Loïc and Léa. After lunch, I took a bike and went to the scuba diving club to get some informations and see if I could dive with them in the next coming days. I started getting to know Jacky who has a tent just next to mine, a cool dude, also traveling and older than me.

A wonderful and big day in Moorea with Adrien. We went to the "belvédère" a famous point of view where you can admire the mountains of Moorea. We spend some time at the InterContinental hostel when you can observe dolphins and turtles. After a good hamburgers, we went for snorkeling and I swam among sharks and Stingray. After I tried for the first time the Hinano beer, Adrien had to leave me and I stayed in a simple but cute pension for the night. I enjoyed an amazing sunset in a small pizzeri [...]

The flight was fine. Near a porthole and enough place for legs #oklm
When I was getting off the plane I felt immediatly a huge difference of temperatures and humidity.
Adrien, a friend of Laura (Laura is a friend and old collegue when I was working at Accenture), peaked me up at the airport with a necklace and a big smile. We were finaly meeting each other after 3 months of discutions through mails and What's App without knowing and seeing each other.

The walk started during a sunny morning, and the landscapes of golden beaches was present from the beginning until the end. The tides are making the landscapes very unique in this place.
I understood during the first day that my bag was to heavy and it cause me problems and pain to my ankle on the first days. Fortunately, the bag was becoming lighter during the journey because I was eating my food supply progresively. I was a little bit short on my food supply but I was able to manage it by doi [...]

ng some small rationing.
This experience of walking in the Abel Tasman park was wonderful! I discovered beautiful landscapes, I traveled with two very nice companions (thanks to Aurélien and Aldjia! I had a really good time with you!) and I also learned more about myself: the difficulties I can endure and most of all what I am capable to carry for living (tent, sleeping bag, food supply, etc.)

I drived in company of Melanie to Nelson where I arrive in the middle of the afternoon.
I did some basic things in my backpacker hostel in Nelson and took some rest. I met a german guy, a group of israelians and two french.
The two french, Aldjia and Aurélien have planned to hike for 4 nights and 5 days in the Abel Tasman park and that is definitely what I wanted to do. I decide to change my plans and to go with them.
I am happy and a little bit sad, because I now feel that the first [...]

step of my worltrip, traveling to New Zealand, is almost coming to the end. Of course, my head is full of amazing memories and the adventure I'm preparing to live in french polynesia makes me very very happy! But living intense moments on a daily basis doesn't make you lose your nostalgy.

It was planned to rain but I keep the memory of a wonderful sun on the pancake rocks on my arrival at Punakaiki.
Idid a walk in the forest in the Paparoa national park along the river and the weather turned bad at the end of my walk. Soaked like a mop, I return to my hostel in the late afternoon where I meet again Joanne and Lison who I met on the north Island. I also have the pleasure to diner with Peter from England and Melanie, a young girl from Austria. The next day, I go to the truman t [...]

I arrive in Greymouth in the late afternoon and met a french guy, Quentin, who is living in Nelson since 5 years.
We discuss and I come with him to the beach where he plans to surf during 2 hours. I relax and take some photos.
During the dinner, we have some nice talks with two young guys from Alaska.

I slept in my car in the middle of the Mount Aspiring National Park. At 5:00am, I left the place and drived north. However, after two hours, I felt myself too tired. I am obliged to park along a lake and finished my night.
When I am arriving in Franz Joseph at noon, the weather is terrible but it doesn't discourage myself to hike to the glacier.
What was actually more memorable than the glacier itself was all the waterfalls in the area. I did some nice photos with melted effect.

I'm back in my tent for one night in a Campground along the river. I met two Germans guys and we talk shortly about the walks around Wanaka.
The dinner is really poor, chinese noodles with overcoocked rice.
On the 22th, I waked up a